Is it possible to create a Community where people can use thier real names ?

I never thought this would be such an issue, but why can’t you have people use their real names?

You can’t put your real name in the “Username” field because it won’t let you write normally with capitol letters and spaces.
The real names in the profile field don’t show up throughout the site so users can’t search for each other unless they just happen to know the other person’s username.

So the members directory is just a list of anonymous usernames, not a real list of community members.
If Buddypress is indeed good for communities, sports teams, and the like, then why create it for people to hide from each other?

Is it possible to have a community of real people with real names using Buddypress?
Seems like a no brainier…any successful community online is driven by people being able to find each other, not a list of usernames a la Facebook, Linked IN.

After all of the work and development on this program, didn’t it ever occur to anyone that someone may want to really use it as a real community site, with real people that have real names?

Every other system does just fine with duplicate real names. There are many occasions where I had to use a middle initial, or other combination to have my name registered. It’s still much easier for others to find, than an obscure string of letters that only has meaning to me.

I’m not saying that the username system is not efficient for registrations, and log in…it’s just that using them in place of actual names for a “Social Networking” community defeats the purpose of what many communities intend.

I sign into Facebook, Linked in and other platforms with a username or email address, but when it comes to being listed, my actual name is displayed, not my username…that’s why they work.

I came to this thread and read all the way through hoping I would see the answer at the end of the rainbow. eborg9 totally has a point and boy he sure had to work to make it. eborg9, I feel your pain.

Case in point, I am using BuddyPress for an alumni group. They won’t know what to do with a username other than use it login (would be nice if they just used their email addresses). Usernames are displayed all through my BuddyPress site and there is no way to turn that off. This is counter intuitive for my audience. In fact, for my site they need to see each other SITEWIDE by “first name + last name in school” (aka: maiden names for women). This shouldn’t be so difficult. I’m surprised there isn’t a plugin to modify the Sign Up form and to edit the profile output. I would pay for such a plugin and I know others would. Does one exist that is for sale? I don’t expect to find one for free.

My site members shouldn’t have to navigate to a members directory and do detective work to figure out to discover another members identity if they belong to an open community established so they can communicate.

has somebody a solution for this problem? A social community without Firstname + Lastname isnt a social community. Its only a forum for internetpeople. But not for real People, who want to interact in a social community is this not relevant.

I hope, somebody has a solution. Because I love the Buddypress Plugin. It’s very nice. But at this point, it’s making many Projects, like mine,
impossible.
Buddypress loses his potential because of this reason.

– You’re right about having to share to read the solution but wrong about the price to sign up. The content is only available after sharing but the site is free to join.

– I figured out the bp-labs code change myself and the solution IS NOT copied from anyone. Before finding the solution, I browsed through all the forums here but they couldn’t help me so I posted the solution I found for myself.